Separator



March 18, 1924. y 1,487,089

W. C. COLEMAN SEPARATOR Filed oct. a, 1923 79.10

INI/.ENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 18, 1924.

Imran. vstares PATIENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM c. eoLEi/IAN, or WICHITA, Kansas.

SEPARATOR.

`Application led October 8, 1923. Serial No. 667,203.

the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,4 and tothe figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to centrifugal separators whereby particles of precious metal may be separated from ore pulp by centrifugal force and the use of mercury, which as is well known has an ainity for gold and silver. The invention contemplates a rotor and a stator with a returnbaifle co-operating therewith so that after the -pulp has passed through the rotor the heavier particles may be returned to bev worked over and provision is made whereby the pulp will have a relatively slow movement through the separator, although a relatively larg'e quantity of material will be subjectedto the action of centrifugal force and the mercury at all times.V V

The invention contemplates the provision of certain novel inexpensive,` easily constructed parts, all of which will be referred to hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which l Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through a separator constructed in accordance with my invention.

F ig. 2 is a perspective view of the return baiiie, and Y Fig. 3 is a fragmentary edge view of the baffle.

Referring now to the drawings by nuis provided at itsv upper end with an out-l wardly projecting Hange orcircumferential 4loailie 9. The wall 3 is recessed to receive a column of mercury 10 which is the material for separatmgoutthe precious metal from the ore pulp. The cover plate 2 is provided with depending radial impeller blades or wingsKV 11'` mounted about the axis of the shaft 1l and adapted to distribute the ore pulp over the disk or table 12 supported on the hollow shaft or tube 13 through which the material is introduced into the machine. The pulp may be forced through the tube 13 in any appropriate maner, discharging upon the table or disk 12 and after the rotor turns about its axis the impeller blades 11 will throw the material overthe peripheral lip 141 Von the edge of the disk 12 and since the diameter of the disk is less thanthe diameter' of the disk 12 and to the upstanding flange 2O on the Z-shaped baille 21 supported by the members 17 and 18.

It will 'be observed that the members17 and 18 are slightly eccentric to the rotor andthat they Vconsist of two semi-cylindrical plates having overlapping edges, that is the edge 22 of the plate 17 overlaps the undery lapping edge 23 of the plate 18 and the edge 24 of the plate 18 overlaps the underlapping edge 25 of the plate 17 so that spaces 26 and 27 are provided between the edges of the respective plates 17 and 18, the spaces existing only near the ends of the cylinder formed by the plates 17 and V18, the intermediate portions being closed by the filler bars 28 and 29 and it will be noted that part of the collar 7, Athe flange 9 and the tube 8 are inside the partition formed by the members 17 and 18 and that the flange 9 is spaced from the bottom -lange 30 of the Z- shaped bathe 21 and further that the outstanding lange 31 of the Z-shaped baille 21 extends nearly to the wall of the` rotor, consequently a tortuous passageway is provided between the outlet of the rotor and the inlet of the stator consisting of the disk 12, the members 17 and 18 and the Z-shaped baie 21.V f

It wil-l be further observed that the chamber 15 is of considerable capacity sothat a.

relatively large amount of pulpy will be in the machine at all times while the machine is tunctioning` and since the pulp will be at all times more or less agitated, due to the fact that there will be a certain amount of scour on the mercury to set the material in motion and in view of the tact that the. ma.-

terial is passing longitudinally through the machine the pulp will be pretty tho-roughly treated before it leaves the rotor, but as it passes up through the closed passageway into the stator on its way to the outlet tube 8 the heavier particles will 'flow to the outer edge of the stator and pass out through the spaces between thel edges 22, 23, 2A and 25 of the members 17 and 18, back through the chamber 15 to again be' treated., the members 17 and 18 acting as return battles so that part ot the pulp that has entered the stator can be returned to the rotor to be worked over. The lighter material will pass` out thro-ugh pipe 8.

By making the chamber 15 relatively large and properly proportioning amount of material entering the machine the passage'ot 'the pulp through the machine will be relatively 'slow so l have termed the chamber 15 a retar'ding chamber, the purpose being to maintain the speed ol the material retarded as much as practicable as it passes through the machine and it will be apparent that the retarding action willbe assisted by the Z-shaped baille or fla-nge 9 and it will further be apparent. that the heavier particles ot material entering the stator will accumulate along the inner face of the eccentric plates 1i' and 18 and pass back into the chamber 15 sothat the separator will be highly eh'icient and a. large recovery of metal from the ore pulp will result.

lVhat l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A separator including two hollow members, one ot which is a rotor and the other a stator, one within the other in spaced relation, a body of mercury in the rotor, means 'for introducing material to one of the members, means 'for dischargingmaterial from one member to the other member and means for returning some of the material to the first member.

2. A separator comprising two hollow members, one of which has rotatable movement with respect to the other, one of the members being within the other, a body of mercury in one of the members, means for introducing ore pulp into one of the members, means for discharging the ore pulp into the other memberand means for returning some ot the pulp to the first member, the first member having a discharge opening.

i 3. A separator comprising a hollow rotor member and a hollow stator member, one within the other in spaced'relation, a body the of mercury in the rotor member, means tor introducing material into the rotor member, means for discharging the mate-rial from the rotor member to the stator member, the stator member having Vain exhaust and means 'for returning some of the material from the stator member to the rotor member.

et. A separator comprising a. hollow rotor, impeller blades within the rotor, a collar on the bottom of the rotor surrounding a discharge opening, a feed tube projecting through the discharge opening, the tee-d tube being of lesser diameter than the collar, a disk at the discharge end of the feed tube and adjacent to the impeller blades, a circular wall depending from the disk consisting of two eccentrically disposed curved plates having overlapping edges with spaces between them and ballles in the lower portion ot' the rotor to provide a. tortuous passage communicating the rotor with the space within the partition formed by the two eccentric plates.

5. A separator comprising a hollow rotor having inwardly and upwardly curved bottom, a collar in the bottom surrounding a discharge opening, depending impeller blades carried 'by the top ot the rotor, a distributor dislr immediately below the blades, a hollow feed `tube connected to the disk and adaptedv to discharge material on to the disk through the opening therein, a pair of curved plates depending from the disk having overlapping edges with spaces between them to form a substantially circular partition spaced from the wall on the rotor and a circular baille member at the edges of the plate.

6. A separator comprising a hollow rotor having an inwardly and upwardly curved bottom, a collar in the bottom surrounding a discharge opening, depending impellcr blades carried by the top of the rotor, a dis tributor disk immediately below the blades, a hollow feed tube connected to the disk and adapted to discharge material on to the dish through the opening therein, a pair of curved plates depending 'from the disk having overlapping edges with spaces between them to form a substantially circular partition spaced from the wall on the rotor and a circular baille member at the edges ot the plate, substantially Z-shaped in cross section.

7. A separatorv comprising a hollow rotor having an inwardly and upwardly curved bottom a collar in the bottom surrounding a discharge opening, depending impeller blades carried by thetop of the rotor, a distributor disk immediately below the blades, a hollow feed tube connected to the disk and adapted to discharge material on to the disk through the opening therein, a pair ot curved plates depending from the disl having overlapping edges with spaces between them to form a substantially circular partition spaced from the Wall on the rotor and a circular baffle member at the edges of the plate7 substantially Z-shaped in cross section, comprising a web having an inwardly disposed ange and an outwardly disposed flange, the out-\.va1dlyv disposed flange being of greater width than the inwai-diy disposed flange.

8. A separator comprising two hollow members, one within the other, one member being stationary and the other one being rotatable, a body of mercury in the rotatable member, means for introducing material in one of the members, means for causing material to pass from the first member into the second member and means for discharging material from the second member and meansv for returning some of the material from the second member to the first.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

WILLIAM C. COLEMAN. 

